Shark fins are seen drying along a street in Hong Kong's Sheung Wan area, in November 2021. Photo by AFP
Its lucrative appendages will be landed at the port of Dakar before being shipped onward to Asia for use in shark fin soup, a delicacy in certain countries, or traditional medicine.
Finning, the practice of removing fins and casting the rest of the shark overboard, often alive, is largely prohibited across a variety of regulatory zones, countries and international conventions, even if fishing certain shark species is generally allowed.
Yet in recent years, illegal shark fins have been repeatedly landed in Dakar, one of Africa's busiest fishing ports, by dozens of longline tuna vessels, according to a report released Thursday by the London-based Environmental Justice Foundation NGO.
Rapid population decline
